Kotick getting the boot doesn't automatically mean any actual change will happen though. At the end of the day, there's still gonna be a group of stockholders pushing for more greedy business practices without a care for the actual state of the games being made or the employees working on them and I'd wager the stockholders at Microsoft will be willing to push even harder for those things. I hope I'm wrong though, I just don't see Microsoft getting another 5 companies under their monopoly ever being a good thing for consumers.
There's a lot more to Pandaria than just monks though. Even the Shado-Pan has a rogue as its effective second-in-command (Taoshi), so you can do more or less whatever you like in Pandaria without monks being a necessary addition. Ideally they'd be there, but I'm not sure that is worth waiting years more for.
I got 3200 twice, but only spent between 1600 - 2000 (can't remember if I already had that second copy of Ur'zul Giant). So I should be fine if they take 3200 dust away.
I think Pandaria and Monks are too intertwined for that to be a stand alone. However they could make 2 Pandaria-themed expansions,we have already seen 2 Old God expansion and League.
Saying that Demacia lack of good finisher is design choice to me is like saying the region isn't supposed to win with it's own champions/follower which not something that I consider to be a healthy design choice. Especially since no other region in game have this weakness and Demacia already plenty of weakness to begin with including poor card draw removal that require you to already have unit's on the board etc.
I'm not saying that the region isn't supposed to win with it's own champions and followers. I'm saying that you're constructing a very narrow view of what winning with your champions and followers means. In effect, you're arguing that if your champ or follower isn't the thing that blows up the enemy Nexus, then it's not how you won.
But that's way too narrow a view. As I said, the majority of aggro and midrange decks that include a Demacian package run Fleetfeather Tracker and Brightsteel Protector precisely because of how powerful that pair can be in the early game. These decks rely on winning the board in the early game so that in the mid game they can finish off the opponent (with Ionian elusives, or with a buffed Pantheon, etc.). Those followers don't close out games, but they're just as instrumental in winning games because they create the space to leverage those powerful units. It's also common to splash Vanguard Sergeant to get For Demacia! and take advantage of a wide board to win.
I think it's worth thinking about the height of Demacian relevance back in 2020 (pre Grizzled Ranger nerf) when Mono-Demancian Bannerman was one of the best decks in the game. It was the perfect illustration of what Demacia is built to do, and it still didn't run more than 1x of any high cost Demacia card because it was built to win in the mid game without flashy finishers. It achieved that victory by snowballing an early board lead with exactly the same early game Demacian cards that still show up in decks today, and to the extent that it had "finishers" at all, they were things like Vanguard Sergeant into For Demacia! which also see play today (albeit more limited).
The same core aspects of Demacia that made Bannerman powerful are still alive and well, but the meta is no longer "fair enough" to let a "purist midrange" strategy like Bannerman succeed. That's not great design on the part of Riot, but it speaks more to powercreep than it does to some design flaw unique to Demacia.
I think Prince's Ring is a worthwhile idea, although I'm not sure about the wording. Lute of Divinity and Saint's Skull are just not effects that should stick around all game.
Honestly, I think your should consider revisiting Ring of Purity. People, including myself, seem pretty positive about it. As linkblade mentioned, its main issue is the possibility to silence enemies whenever you want. A simple fix could be having your HP's silence only affect friendly minions.
If it being convoluted is a concern, perhaps making the first effect only apply to the HP makes it clearer: "Your Hero Power also Silences friendly minions it targets, but doesn't remove the effects of spells you've cast on them."
I created Tide's Memento with Shifting Scroll as inspiration, focussing on seeing your spell before choosing if and when to cast it. I totally forgot about The Runespear. It's definitely a problem, but at this point I'll just submit it.
Same known issue here. Very annoying and seems so silly and simple to fix, but had to live with it for over a month already now. Hopefully, it will be fixed in the upcoming patch (5 days to go still).
The issue is combining 0 cost, unlimited draw, and infinite spells into one deck. I'm a mage player and even I hated Ignite Mage. To me Sorcerer's Apprentice has always been a tool to make fun decks, and unorthodox combos work. If it caused problems it wasn't bigger than whatever the hell another class could do. It was only now when two cards out of hundreds could take too much advantage of it that, that Sorcerer's Apprentice received an extremely harsh nerf.
We’re also getting Pandaria themed BG board soon which is real suspicious. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re diving into Pandaria even without the Monk class
This card has always been an issue. The only validation to keep it was that it was relatively delicate with only 2 health. The issue though is and always has been is that it is EXTREMELY easy to drop 2 in a turn, copy them a couple of times, and play spell after spell for free or at the very least, substantially discounted. Since your opponent rarely will ever get a chance to kill it, having only a 2 health is negligible.
Seeing the sorcerer's apprentice get nerfed that hard really, really bugs me. That card was never a problem until Ignite and Sanctum Schandler came into existence, and yet instead of fixing the problem causer they completely destroy a card that has been a part of mages identity for years.
I'm at Level 75. Slow progress is slow, but it's just hard to play in this Roguestone meta right now. Poison Rogues are simply unbeatable. NOTHING beats this deck. I just toiled away for my golden Shaman portrait, then I was done with Standard until the nerfs come. A once promising and diverse meta ruined by a supposedly meme card in Maestra, good job Blizz....
I'm not doing that many achievements this expansion, which contributes to my slow progress. I dunno, the achievements this time around feel like such a chore to do. I usually complete about 60%, but right now I haven't even hit 30% yet.
Just had a quick skim through these, but I am so excited!! Duels is my favourite mode and these are really interesting additions. I won't lie, I'm a little disappointed we're not getting the 10 Mercanaries that most people expected, but it's something at least!
I hope nobody spent the dust they got. They gave me around 7600 dust yesterday, but I just logged in and the dust is gone. I hadn't received any of those uncraftable goldens (other than earning them normally), so no surprise that I didn't earn any dust from this. I'm just glad I didn't craft anything with that 7600 dust while I had it!
Mine vanished, but the gold cards came back. I did create a Shadowcrafter Scabbs but didnt like the Rouge decks. No biggy, its going to be nerfed and I will dust it then.
I was actually thinking they’d just slap the “but not less than 1” stipulation on her, but I’m happier with this because it still makes things like the original Exodia Mage possible, but requires a little more work to set it up.
EDIT: This was supposed to be a response to someone else. Not sure what happened here.
Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard in a $69 Billion All-Cash Deal
Kotick getting the boot doesn't automatically mean any actual change will happen though. At the end of the day, there's still gonna be a group of stockholders pushing for more greedy business practices without a care for the actual state of the games being made or the employees working on them and I'd wager the stockholders at Microsoft will be willing to push even harder for those things. I hope I'm wrong though, I just don't see Microsoft getting another 5 companies under their monopoly ever being a good thing for consumers.
Full Patch Notes for Hearthstone's 22.2.0 Update Coming on January 25
No Arcane Mercs. Poo! Well, at least, we're getting a Dragon and an Elemental.
The Demacia Problem
am i missing something or dragon clutch give dragons +1/+1 and not overwhelm? are you talking about a diferent card?
Huge Updates Coming to Hearthstone in Patch 22.2 Next Week - Here's What You Need to Know
There's a lot more to Pandaria than just monks though. Even the Shado-Pan has a rogue as its effective second-in-command (Taoshi), so you can do more or less whatever you like in Pandaria without monks being a necessary addition. Ideally they'd be there, but I'm not sure that is worth waiting years more for.
Huge Updates Coming to Hearthstone in Patch 22.2 Next Week - Here's What You Need to Know
Hasn't Iksar already confirmed that we won't be seeing any new classes in 2022?
Missing Cards? Free Arcane Dust? Blizzard Issues a Statement on Recent Hearthstone Issues
I got 3200 twice, but only spent between 1600 - 2000 (can't remember if I already had that second copy of Ur'zul Giant). So I should be fine if they take 3200 dust away.
Huge Updates Coming to Hearthstone in Patch 22.2 Next Week - Here's What You Need to Know
I think Pandaria and Monks are too intertwined for that to be a stand alone. However they could make 2 Pandaria-themed expansions,we have already seen 2 Old God expansion and League.
The Demacia Problem
I'm not saying that the region isn't supposed to win with it's own champions and followers. I'm saying that you're constructing a very narrow view of what winning with your champions and followers means. In effect, you're arguing that if your champ or follower isn't the thing that blows up the enemy Nexus, then it's not how you won.
But that's way too narrow a view. As I said, the majority of aggro and midrange decks that include a Demacian package run Fleetfeather Tracker and Brightsteel Protector precisely because of how powerful that pair can be in the early game. These decks rely on winning the board in the early game so that in the mid game they can finish off the opponent (with Ionian elusives, or with a buffed Pantheon, etc.). Those followers don't close out games, but they're just as instrumental in winning games because they create the space to leverage those powerful units. It's also common to splash Vanguard Sergeant to get For Demacia! and take advantage of a wide board to win.
I think it's worth thinking about the height of Demacian relevance back in 2020 (pre Grizzled Ranger nerf) when Mono-Demancian Bannerman was one of the best decks in the game. It was the perfect illustration of what Demacia is built to do, and it still didn't run more than 1x of any high cost Demacia card because it was built to win in the mid game without flashy finishers. It achieved that victory by snowballing an early board lead with exactly the same early game Demacian cards that still show up in decks today, and to the extent that it had "finishers" at all, they were things like Vanguard Sergeant into For Demacia! which also see play today (albeit more limited).
The same core aspects of Demacia that made Bannerman powerful are still alive and well, but the meta is no longer "fair enough" to let a "purist midrange" strategy like Bannerman succeed. That's not great design on the part of Riot, but it speaks more to powercreep than it does to some design flaw unique to Demacia.
Legendary Loot - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Honestly, I think your should consider revisiting Ring of Purity. People, including myself, seem pretty positive about it. As linkblade mentioned, its main issue is the possibility to silence enemies whenever you want. A simple fix could be having your HP's silence only affect friendly minions.
If it being convoluted is a concern, perhaps making the first effect only apply to the HP makes it clearer: "Your Hero Power also Silences friendly minions it targets, but doesn't remove the effects of spells you've cast on them."
I created Tide's Memento with Shifting Scroll as inspiration, focussing on seeing your spell before choosing if and when to cast it. I totally forgot about The Runespear. It's definitely a problem, but at this point I'll just submit it.
HS BUG: Filter getting stuck on wild deck building.
Same known issue here. Very annoying and seems so silly and simple to fix, but had to live with it for over a month already now. Hopefully, it will be fixed in the upcoming patch (5 days to go still).
Hearthstone's Upcoming Standard and Wild Balance Changes Datamined for Patch 22.2.0
The issue is combining 0 cost, unlimited draw, and infinite spells into one deck. I'm a mage player and even I hated Ignite Mage. To me Sorcerer's Apprentice has always been a tool to make fun decks, and unorthodox combos work. If it caused problems it wasn't bigger than whatever the hell another class could do. It was only now when two cards out of hundreds could take too much advantage of it that, that Sorcerer's Apprentice received an extremely harsh nerf.
Rewards Track Progress: 4.0
I just reached level 200. The new patch with bugfixes arrives in 5 more days and then I can complete my last 2 remaining XP achievements, finally.
Hopefully the next meta becomes a bit more balanced at the same time as well.
Huge Updates Coming to Hearthstone in Patch 22.2 Next Week - Here's What You Need to Know
We’re also getting Pandaria themed BG board soon which is real suspicious. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re diving into Pandaria even without the Monk class
Hearthstone's Upcoming Standard and Wild Balance Changes Datamined for Patch 22.2.0
This card has always been an issue. The only validation to keep it was that it was relatively delicate with only 2 health. The issue though is and always has been is that it is EXTREMELY easy to drop 2 in a turn, copy them a couple of times, and play spell after spell for free or at the very least, substantially discounted. Since your opponent rarely will ever get a chance to kill it, having only a 2 health is negligible.
Hearthstone's Upcoming Standard and Wild Balance Changes Datamined for Patch 22.2.0
Seeing the sorcerer's apprentice get nerfed that hard really, really bugs me. That card was never a problem until Ignite and Sanctum Schandler came into existence, and yet instead of fixing the problem causer they completely destroy a card that has been a part of mages identity for years.
Rewards Track Progress: 4.0
I'm at Level 75. Slow progress is slow, but it's just hard to play in this Roguestone meta right now. Poison Rogues are simply unbeatable. NOTHING beats this deck. I just toiled away for my golden Shaman portrait, then I was done with Standard until the nerfs come. A once promising and diverse meta ruined by a supposedly meme card in Maestra, good job Blizz....
I'm not doing that many achievements this expansion, which contributes to my slow progress. I dunno, the achievements this time around feel like such a chore to do. I usually complete about 60%, but right now I haven't even hit 30% yet.
Big Updates to Hearthstone Duels Adds Alterac Valley Heroes, New Allied Keyword, New Passive Treasures
Just had a quick skim through these, but I am so excited!! Duels is my favourite mode and these are really interesting additions. I won't lie, I'm a little disappointed we're not getting the 10 Mercanaries that most people expected, but it's something at least!
HS BUG: Filter getting stuck on wild deck building.
I have this issue too, I think it's just on mobile for me. Very frustrating.
Extra Dust?!?
Mine vanished, but the gold cards came back. I did create a Shadowcrafter Scabbs but didnt like the Rouge decks. No biggy, its going to be nerfed and I will dust it then.
Hearthstone's 2022 Lunar New Year Questline Rewards 5 Card Packs and a Golden Alterac Pack
I would guess it will be in the fourth slot in the second row, but knowing Blizzard it might actually replace the current quest
Card Design Conversation - Left Behind
That rocket card may be one of the funniest and best design I've seen at the moment! Awesome.
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Gets New Hero Skins for Lunar New Year's Three Kingdoms & Mount Racing Themes
Now I am Cao Cao! I want Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao so desperately!
Hearthstone's Upcoming Standard and Wild Balance Changes Datamined for Patch 22.2.0
I was actually thinking they’d just slap the “but not less than 1” stipulation on her, but I’m happier with this because it still makes things like the original Exodia Mage possible, but requires a little more work to set it up.
EDIT: This was supposed to be a response to someone else. Not sure what happened here.
Hearthstone's 2022 Lunar New Year Questline Rewards 5 Card Packs and a Golden Alterac Pack
Will this quest be in the "legendary quest slot"? What if you haven't achieved the highest rank in the honor quest line?
Hearthstone Battlegrounds Gets New Hero Skins for Lunar New Year's Three Kingdoms & Mount Racing Themes
NO STARSEEKER SISTERS DON'T DO IT MY WALLET ISN'T STRONG ENOUGH! Starseeking simpage aside sick skins